May 29 -30, 2025
We arrived the afternoon of May 29 at the Fort Worth Elks. Evidently, the Ft Worth Elks now lease the large parking area where they used to allow RVs to park overnight! But they neglected to change availability on the website where it stated there were two spots with power, and space for dry camping. The volunteer on duty made a couple of calls, one to the neighboring tavern who leases the lot. They said it was OK for us to stay two nights here. The Elks volunteer came out to check on us. We showed him that the power boxes were locked. Within just a few minutes someone arrived with bolt cutters! We weren’t expecting that and could have managed without power.
We wanted to stay here due to the proximity to the Stockyards of Fort Worth.
We headed to the Stockyards the next morning. We were glad we went first thing in the morning. We got a great parking spot in the lot by the petting zoo, which also happened to border the corral where the longhorns were kept! The spot we chose had the rope missing so we could back in and let the bikes overhang the “curb” and not interfere with the dirt road/path behind us. It was a steady stream of vehicles coming in. Spots filled up quickly.
Fort Worth was a critical stop as the last civilized outpost for cowboys driving cattle to market along the Chisholm Trail. Once the railroad arrived in Fort Worth the town became a major center for buying and shipping of livestock. This gave the town the nickname, “Cowtown”.
Between the 1880’s and 1950’s, the Fort Worth Stockyards grew to become the largest livestock-trading center in the southwest, and during the Great Depression, it became the largest in the country. Cattle, hogs and sheep were bought and sold here, and with the building of the Horse and Mule Barns in 1912, the Stockyards hosted the largest horse and mule market in the U.S. during WWI. The Stockyards continued to grow throughout the next few decades, reaching a commercial peak during the 1940’s. The 1950’s brought the less expensive transport using trucks vs railway.
I loved seeing the “round house” area of the train yard. When I was growing up we had a fabulous electric train that was pretty extensive. It had a round house where we could direct a train in and rotate the platform for a different train to come out or send the previous engine out onto a different track. This is the first I’ve seen something like this in person!
The “cattle drive” down Main Street was pretty cool. The drive consists of about a dozen longhorns with about 3 or 4 cowboys managing the herd. This demonstration occurs twice daily and is the only such cattle drive in the world. The horns on these guys are amazing! Their heads teeter left and right with each step. The span of the horns is staggering, as they can reach more than 8 feet from tip to tip!! Each has their own unique shape including a more upward or downward growth. Imagine trying to maneuver if you had an inflexible four-foot extension out each side of your head!
There are a couple places along Exchange Street where a cowboy tends to a longhorn positioned for people to pay $10 to sit on the animal and take a picture. No thank you, but it was cool to be that close to one! They are really busy right before and after the two cattle drives times of 11:30 and 4 PM.
We walked around town.
We asked this Conestoga wagon driver where he would go for a good hamburger for lunch. Without hesitation, he said, “Hooters Grill”. He said burgers there are fresh, never frozen patties. So up the hill we went.
The burger came with mustard (only option) and one pickle slice. You could add cheese but I forgot to do that. I thought the burger was a good, fresh burger, but I would have enjoyed it more with nice crisp lettuce, cheese and some mayo, especially since I went bun-less. Barry thought it was too salty. We have to remember that most people use more salt and sugars than we do, so recommendations may not fit our palate preferences.
In case I wasn’t feeling old yet…
…But it did make me laugh. 🙂
Lucchese boots are supposed to be very top of the line, so we went in to check them out. When there are NO prices, that’s the primary clue we can’t afford whatever it is!
When we started walking I immediately noticed Texas Trail of Fame medallions in the sidewalk. I started to take pictures of a lot of them, but first –what is the Texas Trail of Fame?
Here are ones of people I recognized. Some made me smile.
This one–just because it was for a cowgirl, and her name was Lucille (my mom’s name).
When I saw there were some Texas Rangers medallions, I said, “Gee, my brother could have been here. He was a Texas Ranger.” Then a little later Barry showed me this one he took…
Lawrence (MONTANA) Slack, Texas Ranger–oops his foot “accidentally” covered up his last name. LOL. Thank you, Barry. You are the best!
It was funny to watch visitors who appeared oblivious to these sidewalk medallions. Occasionally, as I was taking a picture of one, they would look to see what I was taking a picture of, and then they’d look at it as we moved along.
We went into the Livestock Exchange building. Here on the walls were yearly plaques providing complete lists of the Texas Trail of Fame recipients for that year.
Some recipients that I recognized but didn’t come across their sidewalk medallion:
Wyatt Earp, Tex Ritter, Clayton Moore, Calamity Jane, Zane Grey, Gene Autry, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody, Davy Crockett, Sam Elliott, Robert Duvall, Horace Greeley, Willie Nelson, and Mark Twain. There were also various Texas Rangers, the Choctaw Code Talkers, and the Comanche Code Talkers.
These sayings were part of the framed displays. Good advice. LOL
(There was also a small museum near the back. $5 admission. Barry was already sitting waiting for me, and I didn’t feel the need.)
The Coliseum – Today this is where special auctions and showing of top quality cattle. The Coliseum is the location of the first indoor rodeo. It hosts top quality rodeo shows every Friday and Saturday evening. (Must purchase a ticket.)
A stroll down Mule Alley: The refurbishment of the Horse and Mule Barns has brought close to 200,000 square feet of regional restaurants, and retail shops. Mule Alley has transformed this area into a vibrant district with carriage rides, horses, live music, outdoor patio dining and shops. At the end of Mule Alley is Hotel Drover known for its Texas hospitality.
I’ve always loved American Paint Horse breed. Maybe from watching “Bonanza” for many years and having a crush on Michael Landon as “Little Joe”. His horse was a beautiful paint.
Cool bar/lounge in Mule Alley. The guitar caught my eye as we walked by, so I went in to take a couple pictures.
We enjoyed some time at the corral before we headed out.
Looks like Chisholm has a little itch.
I was intrigued by the uniqueness of each animal’s horns. The curve, twist and direction upward or downward as they grew. I felt sorry for the ones with horns that curved downward. They were low and almost touching the ground at times. Seemed it was harder for them to maneuver around objects and other longhorns. But I’m sure each longhorn adjusts and adapts well as their horns grow.
The video below captures the incoming longhorn (Tahmahkera) tilting its head to get by the post, but then jabs another longhorn (Honcho) with the tip of horn. As Honcho tries to move out of the way and out to the sun, Honcho has to step over the horn of yet another longhorn (Goodnight). (I did my best to identify the longhorns from the poster.)
This guy is the newest longhorn here, and has the most symmetrical set of horns. He is supposedly the healthiest of the current herd and is smaller. (He is not on the poster yet.)
These animals are pretty incredible as they maneuver around with horns that extend so far out past their head on both sides. Yes, they do bump into things, and each other, or get stuck when a horn can’t get around a post. The time here at the corral also allowed us to focus on how different the horns were and wondered if they contribute to their personalities.
Tomorrow we visit a dear friend from Washington, Ken Collins and his wife Susie!